


The Chaos of a Little Girl's Mind

by Manuscriptor



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Gen, Just girls being girls, Over Active Imaginations, Post-Avengers: Endgame (Movie), i think i got the ages right oops, you know how that is
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-12
Updated: 2019-07-12
Packaged: 2020-06-26 20:17:29
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,698
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19775635
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Manuscriptor/pseuds/Manuscriptor
Summary: Cassie gets roped into babysitting Morgan and they go on a wild adventure. They maybe even run into a familiar face.





	The Chaos of a Little Girl's Mind

**Author's Note:**

  * For [lucky_as_lucky_can_be](https://archiveofourown.org/users/lucky_as_lucky_can_be/gifts).



Cassie constructed the entire runway of cardboard tubes mostly from memory. She had a lot more space to work with. Rather than the cramped turns and two and a half hallways that she had grown up with, she had the space to create an entire _city_. 

Not to mention that she wasn’t building by herself. 

To be completely honest, she hadn’t exactly been _overjoyed_ when her dad had mentioned that a “friend of the family” needed help babysitting. She was fifteen, for goodness sake! She had friends from school she wanted to hang out with and movies to watch, not to mention the three dozen kids from her class that had gotten blipped were back and there was tons to catch up on. 

But when her dad had introduced her to the tiny girl she was supposed to be watching and had promised anything in the world if she just pleased stayed for a couple hours, I swear, I’ll be back before you know it, honey buns—well, Cassie realized she didn’t hate the situation completely. 

Morgan was a Stark, which was already hard to believe in the first place. Cassie never thought she would ever be in the same room as a Stark, let alone babysitting a tiny version of one. 

Morgan was a Stark and had a gigantic house and three bodyguards. 

They didn’t act like bodyguards of course. One was dressed like a nanny and the other two looked and acted like bored college students. But if living around her dad had taught her anything, Cassie knew when a person was pretending to be something they weren’t. 

At first, Morgan didn’t seem that interested in the older girl that was supposed to be watching her. She sat on the floor of her playroom, zooming action figures through the air and staging a dramatic scene where it looked like Barbie had to rescue a Captain America that had been squeezed into a Ken Doll outfit. The bodyguards all kept their distance, not even hovering and doing a good job of acting disinterested in the whole scene. 

Cassie wasn’t sure if she was supposed to just watch Morgan until the adults came back or what but she found herself plopped on the ground next to the gigantic battle scene, trying to make sense of what was going on. 

“Is that the Hulk?” she asked, studying the block tower that the action figure had been placed on top of. 

“It is!” Morgan replied excitedly. She dropped the Captain America and Barbie to pick up the green professor. “He’s developing the secret serum in his lab! It’ll save Spiderman from the alien eggs that have been injected into his brain.” She wiggled her own fingers against her forehead and made a face.

Cassie actually laughed at that, spotting the Spiderman figure across the spread where he was having tea with twin My Little Ponies. The cup he was using was way too large though, probably from a different playset. 

“Is his life in danger?” Cassie couldn’t help but ask, already caught up in the story even though she was obviously coming into it halfway through. 

“Super,” Morgan said with a nod. “The eggs are growing at a dangerous rate and if we don’t get them out, then Dr. Strange is going to have to operate.” 

Cassie raised her eyebrows at the makeshift hospital scene set up with the action figure at the surgery table surrounded by his stuffed animal assistants. It was cute and all thrown together but at the same time, Morgan was deeply invested in everything that was going on. 

It reminded Cassie of the games her dad used to play with her to keep her occupied. 

“You know what,” she said, crouching down and snagging a Thor action figure where it was in a dressing room with three other Barbies and several Hot Wheels cars. “Thor just got a secret message from his underground agents, telling him about a heist in the next city over.”  
  
Morgan’s eyes immediately went wide. “But he was enjoying a day off with his best friends!! He needs a new outfit for Valkyrie’s wedding and he was going to help her and her wife pick out dresses!” She grabbed one Barbie that had had her hair cut in a short jagged Mohawk that was obviously done by Morgan herself.

Cassie smiled and positioned Thor’s arms upright, so he could fly properly. “That will have to wait,” she said. “People need his help!” 

“And heroes never abandoned someone who needs help!” Morgan yelled enthusiastically, grabbing Hulk and Captain America so they could follow to help their best friend. 

Cassie wondered just how many times the little girl had heard that line living in the house of Tony Stark. It didn’t matter because the superheroes were already off, ready to save whatever people needed it, and Morgan was waiting with bated breath as Cassie made up a story on the fly, improvising every line. 

And that’s where the cardboard boxes had come in. 

It was the best thing Cassie knew. 

She had easily roped the bodyguards into helping them build the entire system of tunnels and rooms, complete with dead ends and loop arounds and hidden treasure. In all the chaos, Thor, Captain America, and Hulk somehow got left behind, and the game became Cassie and Morgan saving the civilians and hunting down the bad guys. 

“Right up ahead,” Cassie whispered, crawling on her stomach army style through a particularly cramped section of tunnel. “I think we’re almost to the headquarters.” 

“You can tell by the lights,” Morgan whispered back. This section of the tunnels were significantly darker, probably where the outside lights had been turned off. It was almost pitch black, and Cassie could barely see the cardboard in front of her, let alone the twists and turns that were ahead. 

Perhaps she had made the tunnels a bit too complicated, since even she couldn’t remember this part. She had been so caught up in the story that she hadn’t been paying complete attention to where Morgan and the bodyguards had been building. This wasn’t like her old house where it fit three turns on one big room _if you were lucky_. Cassie didn’t even know her way around the Stark Mansion. 

“Morgan, you’d better lead the way,” she said as the ceiling dipped down even further. She ducked her head. “You have the blueprints to the layout, right?” 

Morgan proudly presented a badly rolled sheet of paper that had scribbles of crayon peeking out of the corners. “Right here. Don’t worry. I know the way.” 

Cassie literally had to trust her as the tunnel narrowed even more and Morgan scrambled along confidently. At least the cardboard broke away up ahead, and Cassie was able to take a breath of fresh air as she exited the maze. She barely had a chance to look where she was before Morgan was dragging her hand and pulling her along. 

“Hurry! The bad guys are right behind us! We need to access the lasers up ahead if we want to survive!” she said. 

“But the ants are back in the tunnels,” Cassie said. “They are the ones that have all our intel. They should know what to do if the blasters fail and the planet erupts.” 

The plot of the story had gotten a bit convoluted at some point. 

“The ants are distracting the secret agents,” Morgan insisted, running through halls that Cassie definitely didn’t recognize. “We’ll meet up later. We need to get to our _own_ intel.” 

Cassie hadn’t mentioned getting any more intel and as far as she was concerned, the ants were the only ones who usually knew what to do in these stories. Whatever “new intel” Morgan had come up with had been from her own imagination, and Cassie would just have to play along. 

The halls were all dark, with the lights off, and Cassie actually had to push aside the worry that was starting to twist her stomach. The bodyguards hadn’t said any part of the mansion was off limits, but really, Cassie had no way of knowing. She just hoped she wouldn’t get in trouble for a game that got out of her control. 

“Are you sure you know where we’re going?” she asked hesitantly. “Anton didn’t say anything about this part of the mission. He would be really worried if we don’t stop the alien eggs from hatching.” 

That actually stopped Morgan, though she didn’t let go of Cassie’s hand. She took a solemn breath and turned to look Cassie in the eye. She looked so serious that it was so obvious she was a Stark in that moment. 

“I didn’t want to tell you,” she said, forehead furrowed in worry. “But you ask too many questions.” 

“What are you talking about?” Cassie asked. The worry in her stomach jumped up to her throat in a second, and her heart was slamming way too hard against the inside of her chest. 

“You got infected!” Morgan hissed in an urgent whisper. “With the alien eggs!” 

Oh. 

Just a part of the game. Cassie had almost forgotten they were still playing. 

“Anton can’t help you,” Morgan said, pulling Cassie along again. “He’s too busy making sure the bridesmaids all have the correct dresses. I know someone who can help!” 

“Thor?” Cassie said, trying to guess what character that Morgan was referring to. “Captain America? Spiderman? Ken Doll?” 

Morgan shook her head and finally stopped in front of a door. She had to step up on her tiptoes just to reach the doorknob but grabbed and forced it open all on her own. 

The inside of the room was even darker than the halls outside, with only several glowing computer screens lighting up the space with their unearthly glow. The graphs and documents that were displayed were all flickering and moving on their own. On one screen, three different scientific articles were scrolling through at a rapid pace. A word document was opened one screen over with notes that were writing themselves. Another screen was flipping through news stations that were playing in every language imaginable, and yet another screen was playing chess with some sort of online AI. 

Cassie immediately pulled back, the worry quickly changing to fear. 

“Morgan, I don’t think we’re supposed to be here,” she said. She whispered because that was what seemed appropriate to do. 

Morgan was still latched onto her hand though, dragging her forward. Cassie didn’t want to fight back too hard for risk of hurting the little girl, but the room was obviously something important and that something important was obviously not supposed to be messed with. Cassie had spent more than enough time around her dad to recognize things that were not supposed to be touched. 

“It’s fine,” Morgan said. She had a grip tighter than any little girl Cassie had ever met. “It’s the Den of the Genius! He’ll help you with your alien eggs.” 

“Morgan!” Cassie hissed, giving the little girl a sharp yank. “We’re not supposed to be here! This all looks way too important!” 

“Ow!” Morgan yelled and twisted her hand out of Cassie’s grip. 

Before Cassie could stop her, she darted forward and grabbed an important looking black box off of one of the desktops. She had to drag it off the edge and from the way she staggered off balance, Cassie could tell it was heavy. 

Terrified that whatever important tech that was going to be dropped, Cassie jumped forward, ready to snatch it away. Before she could grab it and pull it out of Morgan’s arms, she had already slammed one grubby hand against a wide button situated on the side of the device. It looked like some sort of power button, and for a moment, Cassie was sure that all the screens would go black and destroy whatever was being done. 

And that’s kinda what happened. 

The screens didn’t go dark. Instead, everything froze in place. The documents all stopped scrolling and the words stopped typing themselves. The news station had stopped on some language that Cassie didn’t recognize, something rough and European. It droned as background noise and kept a horrible silence from settling over the room. 

It would have otherwise, because Cassie was struck speechless. 

“The Genius Man!” Morgan crowed triumphantly, dancing with her box at the success of her “mission.” “He can help us, Cassie! He knows all about alien eggs! He’s _Iron Man_! Do-do-do-do-do!”

Cassie recognized the turn as the theme song from an Iron Man show that had aired for a couple seasons before being discontinued. Not that it had been underfunded, but the numbers had just been dismal. No one talked about it.

Morgan was still dancing in victory, cheering the return of the Genius Super Hero.

A surprisingly stable hologram of none other than Tony Stark now stood in front of the computers. 

He looked a little frazzled, like he hadn’t expected to appear. He was dressed in familiar clothing that the billionaire usually sported—casual jeans and a band t-shirt. It was an outfit that he usually wore to spite the press and make himself look untouchable. He looked just like that now, though more a little irritated than anything. 

“Morgan, sweetie, daddy was working,” he said, sweeping his gaze back and forth across the screens. His fingers twitched like they wanted to be at a keyboard. “You know the rules about pulling me out, especially when you see everything moving. Mommy told you—” 

He trailed off when he turned around and finally settled his gaze on Cassie. 

“Oh,” he said. 

Cassie couldn’t think of anything better to say either. 

“She’s been infested with alien eggs though, Daddy!” Morgan said, heaving the box up to place it back in its spot on the desk. “You’re the only one smart enough to know how to get rid of them!” 

“Scott Lang,” Tony muttered, still not looking away from Cassie’s face. 

“Um, yessir,” Cassie said. Was it Dr. Stark? Was Tony a doctor? Did he have a doctorate? She suddenly couldn’t remember and it felt awkward to call him Mr. Stark. 

“Daaaaaad!!” Morgan whined, stomping a foot. “She’s gonna die! We need your help!” 

That seemed to jolt Tony out of his thoughts. He shook his head and then shoulders and arms, settling into his role without question and pulling himself up to his full height. 

“Of course, agents,” he said. “Let’s see the damage.” 

He stepped up to Cassie, moving a hand forward and then seeming to think better of it. He gave an apologetic sort of smile and waved his hands awkwardly around the space right around her. 

“I can’t actually touch you,” he muttered and then said louder. “Ah, yes. The eggs have spread all throughout her body. Good catch, Agent Stark, you’ve got a good eye.” 

Morgan preened under the praise but quickly got over it. “How do we save her?” she demanded. “How do we save her how do we save her how do we save her?!?”

“Hm, the diagnosis is grim,” Tony said, pacing back to his computers and running a hand through his hair. “If we don’t act fast, we’re going to lose her.” 

Morgan watched him wide eyed, completely wrapped up in the story. She was pacing in her dad’s footsteps, following in his space so closely that Cassie was scared that she would step right through the hologram. She didn’t, but Cassie was still scared about it.

“The situation doesn’t look good,” Tony went on, stopping next to one of the huge operating systems connected to the screens. He touched a single holographic finger to the huge box. One of the screens flickered through the entries of poisonous snakes and toads and a dozen other creatures that were deadly to humans. 

“What the—?” Cassie started to ask, but then Tony was pushing on. 

“I’ve just completed my research,” he declared, settling back into a frantic back-and-forth pace. “And it’s worse than I expected. No creatures on earth could have caused such damage.” He froze in place, looking grimly to Morgan. “Don’t tell me.” 

She nodded, just as serious. “Aliens.” 

“Just as I thought,” Tony said. “There’s really only one cure. In the Great Halls of the Cold Kitchen, you’ll find the answer to your problems.” He grinned and tapped the side of his nose. “Mom’s got a carton of Cookie Dough Cure that I’m sure will fix all your problems.” 

Morgan jumped up and down, accidentally cutting through one of Tony’s legs. Not that she noticed. She was too busy celebrating. 

“Come on, Cassie!” she said. “We gotta hurry and cure the alien eggs!” She didn’t even bother grabbing Cassie’s hand as she ran out of the room. 

The prospect of Cookie Dough ice cream apparently too exciting to make sure she was being followed by anyone else. Not even Cassie. She was gone before Tony could say anything else, and he laughed at her enthusiasm. It was awkward being alone with him though, and Cassie quickly moved towards the door, because ice cream really didn’t sound that bad. 

“You are _his_ daughter, right?” Tony called, making Cassie stop. 

She turned, studying the hologram a bit closer. 

It was incredibly realistic, from the hair going slightly grey in his beard to the wrinkles of his clothes. He even moved and walked like a normal person. Cassie had heard rumors from her dad that Tony Stark hadn’t exactly _died_ , but it wasn’t supposed to be common knowledge. And it really all was just rumors. No one had confirmed anything. 

Until now. 

“Y-yeah,” she said, still not sure how she was supposed to address the hologram. “He is. He doesn’t really do superhero stuff anymore though. He’s kinda . . .” 

“Retired?” Tony offered. 

Cassie actually laughed. “Not really. He gets bored too quickly. He’s kinda just working for himself.” 

Tony surprised her by laughing too, and he glanced back at the screens. “That’s what I usually spend my time doing,” he said. “You know, when Morgan doesn’t need to kill alien infestations. She usually knows better than to pull me out like that.” 

“That might’ve been my fault,” Cassie admitted. “We were playing a game—” 

Tony just shook his head. “Don’t feel bad. Just . . . could you put me back inside?” He gestured to the box Morgan had first grabbed and wiggled his fingers. “I can’t exactly touch things and it’s harder to manipulate to processing units from outside.” 

“Oh! Yeah!” Cassie said, jumping forward. She awkwardly looked the box over before finding the right button. She hesitated though, looking back at the hologram. 

“You know, everyone thinks you’re dead,” she said. Even her dad had wept and mourned, spending way too much time in his bedroom and refusing to leave the house. It had been a dark time for all the superheroes. 

Tony actually looked a bit sheepish before shrugging his shoulders and turning away from her. “It’s better this way,” he said. “That no one knows. At least not yet. It’s an ace up the sleeve, a secret weapon.” 

Cassie still didn’t want to hit the button. She had heard so many stories about Tony but had never had the chance to meet him. And now he was here, not dead, almost in the flesh. 

“Why don’t you just let everyone know you’re okay?” she asked. “They all miss you tons.” 

Tony sighed, looking down at his feet. “I know, kiddo, I know,” he said. “But sometimes, you gotta miss someone for a bit before things make sense.” He gave a drive laugh. “Absence makes the heart grow fonder.” 

Cassie frowned because that didn’t really sound right. 

“It’s a hard decision for everyone,” Tony went on. “And I’m not any happier with it. This is just how it has to be for . . . a little bit. Until we figure out a bit more stuff.” His sadness shifted into a frown and he shook his head. “Look, Morgan never should have brought you in here in the first place. Pepper is going to give her a long talking to about when it’s okay to talk to Daddy and when I’m working. I can’t have any random kid seeing me and then—” 

“I won’t tell,” Cassie blurted. “Look, I’m fifteen. I can keep a secret.” 

Tony looked up at her finally and raised a skeptical eyebrow. “Fifteen? Is that so?” 

“I’m basically an adult,” Cassie said, standing as straight as she could. Really, she was almost as tall as the hologram. “And I can keep a secret.” 

“Fine,” Tony said. He looked her up and down and them faintly smiled as he seemingly found something there he hadn’t seen the first time. “Really, fine. Because if you don’t, I can just as easily send agents after you who can wipe your mind, and you really won’t need to keep a secret because you won’t remember anything.” 

Cassie shivered without meaning to, and Tony pulled back immediately. 

“But Morgan seems to like you,” he quickly went on. “And a kid of mine has to have a good taste in friends. I trust you.” 

Cassie wrinkled her nose but didn’t push her luck at the childish treatment. She was pretty sure the threat of wiping her mind was real and serious. 

“You’d better go get some of that cure,” Tony said, dragging her out of her thoughts. “You know.” He gestured to his chest with a smirk. “Before the aliens take over.” 

Cassie really wasn’t sure what to say to that. “Thank you, Mr. Stark,” was what happened to come out. She hit the button before she could make an even bigger fool out of herself. 

The hologram flickered once and then disappeared. A moment later, all the screens began moving again as Tony resumed his work. Cassie stared a couple seconds, trying to catch the news articles or the scientific papers, but none of it made any sense to her. 

She shut the door behind her as she left, figuring that that was the best. Besides, she had to cure herself of disgusting alien eggs. She just hoped Morgan hadn’t eaten all of the cure.

**Author's Note:**

> hey I'm on Tumblr @manuscript-or


End file.
